Jailed Ellsworth man faces drug charges

ELLSWORTH, Maine — A local man who is serving time in jail in connection with a car accident last year in which he and three other people were injured is in trouble with the law again.

James C. Klausky, 19, appeared last week in Hancock County Superior Court to answer charges that he smuggled prescription drugs into Hancock County Jail in March. Earlier this month, he was indicted by a Hancock County grand jury on charges of trafficking in prison contraband, unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs and unlawful possession of scheduled drugs.

Klausky is serving jail time after having been convicted of charges stemming from a car accident in Franklin on Jan. 21, 2008, according to superior court documents. Klausky was driving a car when it left the road and struck a tree. Klausky and two of his passengers, one of whom suffered multiple broken bones, ended up being treated for their injuries at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, while the third passenger was treated for minor injuries.

Klausky was charged with criminal operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants, aggravated assault, reckless conduct and driving to endanger. In January of this year, he pleaded no contest to charges of OUI and reckless conduct. He was sentenced to 11 months in jail with all but 90 days suspended, with a year of probation upon his release and a fine of $2,000.

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In March, Klausky tested positive for suboxone while in Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth and was caught by corrections officers sneaking the same prescription drug into the facility, according to court documents.

Klausky’s attorney, Jeff Toothaker of Ellsworth, said Thursday that his client was on work release when he allegedly tried to sneak the drugs into the jail. Klausky was allowed to leave the jail each morning to work at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth but returned each night to serve his sentence, court documents in-dicate.

Klausky has been held in jail since being charged with the drug offenses. He appeared June 19 in superior court to answer to the new charges but his case was continued according to people familiar with the case.

Toothaker said Thursday that he has been in conversations with the Hancock County District Attorney’s Office in an attempt to work out a plea agreement on behalf of his client but that those discussions so far have been unsuccessful.

At the time of the January 2008 accident, Klausky told police he “had a buzz on” as he was driving and that he was upset because of events involving his girlfriend, according to court documents. Police indicated that Klausky had a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 percent shortly after the accident occurred. A blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent is considered legally intoxicated in Maine.

“The vehicle had left the road and struck a tree with such force that the vehicle was separated from its frame,” police indicated in reports on the accident.